Actually, it's not near San Gim. It's just north of Radda in Chianti. (You gotta love those Italian Touring Club maps!)

Marilyn, is it different than La Volpaia? I saw that on a map and it said it was within minutes of San G.

Hi Marilyn and swalter: Sasi here. I have Volpaia on my Tuscany map (Euro-Map) and Marilyn is right, it is near Radda in Chianti. That's where we asked directions. It's basically directly north of Radda, only a few km. No road numbers, you would probably have to ask someone. Did you try michelin.com? Sasi

Thanks Marilyn and Sasi. Michelin.com didn't show it.

Thanks, all. Now back to the game...

nikkilou, We did our search for a rental villa on the internet and ended up finding one through an agency called Domani (www.domani-usa.com). We really don't know a lot about it, but the pictures we saw, along with the location, price, and size all seemed to be just what our group of 5 was looking for. We will be there Oct 4-11 and if you like, I will be glad to fill you in on more details when we return.

MarkY--I noticed you said you liked Greve--what in particular did like about it? We rented a house with some friends just outside of Greve for a week next May. Thanks.

In answer to the question, "Why Greve?", I would offer the following: First, since most tourists drive through it, you're more likely to be rubbing elbows with Italians, second the town is big enough so that many of the locals live "downtown". As a result, Greve's square is a vibrant place rather than another gorgeous mausoleum with postcard shops. there are a number of good (albeit unpretentious) restaurants in town. Our favorite is Galo Nero, a family style restauarnt that serves killer bruschetta and saltimboca together with excellent locally produced wines. The town's open air market is fairly unremarkable but for its excellent locally produced salami and boar products. Open air concerts in the square feature musicians from an international music program based in Greve (can't remember its name) but well worth taking in. Finally, Greve is almost exactly the mid-point between Florence and Siena. We stayed at an excellent villa outside town called Vignamaggio. We loved the villa and loved Greve! Buono viaggio!